Francis Lee facts for kids
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Francis Henry Lee | ||
| Date of birth | 29 April 1944 | ||
| Place of birth | Westhoughton, Lancashire, England | ||
| Date of death | 2 October 2023 (aged 79) | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1959–1967 | Bolton Wanderers | 189 | (92) |
| 1967–1974 | Manchester City | 249 | (112) |
| 1974–1976 | Derby County | 62 | (24) |
| Total | 500 | (228) | |
| National team | |||
| 1968–1972 | England | 27 | (10) |
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Francis Henry Lee (born April 29, 1944 – died October 2, 2023) was a famous English professional footballer. People also knew him as Franny Lee. He played as a striker, which is a player whose main job is to score goals.
Francis Lee played for several big clubs like Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City, and Derby County. He also played for the England national team. He was known for being very fast and determined. During his career, he scored over 200 goals. He won the top English football league title, called the League Championship, with both Manchester City and Derby County. In 2010, he was added to the English Football Hall of Fame, which honors the best players in English football history.
Francis Lee holds a special record in English football for scoring the most penalty kicks in one season. A penalty kick is a free shot at the goal from a close distance, usually given when a foul happens inside the penalty area. Because he scored so many penalties, he got the nickname Lee 1 (Pen). This name often appeared next to his name in newspaper results. Sometimes, people accused him of diving, which means pretending to be fouled to win a penalty. One time, this led to a fight on the field with a player from Leeds United named Norman Hunter.
Besides football, Francis Lee also started a business in 1966. His company, F.H. Lee Ltd, recycled paper to make products like kitchen roll and toilet paper. This business made him a millionaire. It operated until 2003. Later, in 1994, Lee became the main owner and chairman of Manchester City, the club he played for. He left this role four years later.
Contents
Football Career
Playing for Bolton Wanderers
Francis Lee started his football journey as a young amateur player. He made his first team debut for Bolton Wanderers in November 1960. He was only 16 years old. In that game against Manchester City, he scored a goal, helping Bolton win 3–1. He became a professional player in May 1961.
Lee was Bolton's top goal scorer in the 1962–63 season. The next season, Bolton was moved down to a lower league. In the 1964–65 season, he scored 23 league goals, which was his best scoring year for the club. In September 1967, he moved to Manchester City. By then, he had scored 106 goals in 210 games for Bolton.
Playing for Manchester City
In 1967, Manchester City's manager, Joe Mercer, bought Francis Lee for £60,000. This was a record amount for the club at the time. Mercer said that buying Lee was "the final piece of the puzzle" for his team. Lee played his first game for Manchester City in a 2–0 win. He scored his first goal for them the very next week.
In his first season, he scored 16 goals in 31 games. He was very important in helping City win the 1967–68 League Championship. They won the title on the very last day of the season, beating Newcastle United 4–3, with Lee scoring one of the goals. The next year, Lee helped Manchester City win the 1969 FA Cup, which is another major football competition in England.
In the 1969–70 season, Francis Lee was Manchester City's top scorer. He continued to be their top scorer for the next four seasons. One of his most important goals was a penalty kick in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, which City won.
In the 1971–72 season, Lee set a British record. He scored 15 penalty kicks out of his 35 goals that season. Many of these penalties were given because Lee was fouled. This is why he was nicknamed Lee One Pen. Some people, however, thought he sometimes pretended to be fouled, so they called him Lee Won Pen. Referees' chief Keith Hackett once said Lee "had a reputation of falling down easily."
Lee also held the record for scoring the most goals in games between Manchester City and Manchester United, known as the Manchester derby. He scored ten goals against Manchester United. This record was later broken by Wayne Rooney.
Playing for Derby County
Francis Lee left Manchester City in 1974 and joined Derby County. He was sad that Manchester City sold him. In his first game against his old club, he scored the winning goal for Derby. He scored 12 league goals that season, and Derby won their second League title. This was Lee's second championship medal.
On November 1, 1975, Lee had a famous fight with Leeds United defender Norman Hunter. This happened during a game and was even shown on TV. In the first half, the referee gave Derby a penalty kick because he thought Hunter fouled Lee. Later in the game, Lee and Hunter started fighting. The referee stopped the game and wrote down their names. As they walked away, they started fighting again! Other players had to step in. Lee got a cut lip that needed stitches. He was banned from playing for four weeks. In 2003, a newspaper called this incident one of the most spectacular dismissals in sports.
International Career
Francis Lee played his first game for the England national team when he was 24 years old. This was on December 11, 1968, in a friendly game against Bulgaria. He scored his first goal for England in his next game, a 5–0 win against France.
Lee played for England in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. He was the first English player ever to get a yellow card in a World Cup game. This happened when he kicked the goalkeeper from Brazil. He played in games against Romania, Brazil, and West Germany. England lost to West Germany and was knocked out of the tournament.
Life After Football
Business Ventures
After he stopped playing football, Francis Lee became a businessman. His company, FH Lee Ltd, made toilet paper. The famous comedian Peter Kay even worked there for a while and wrote about it in his book.
In 1994, Lee became the chairman of Manchester City. Many fans were very happy about this because they wanted him to take control of the club. When he became chairman, Lee made big promises. He said, "This will be the happiest club in the land. The players will be the best paid and we'll drink plenty of champagne, celebrate and sing until we're hoarse." In 1995, he hired his friend Alan Ball as manager. However, things did not go well, and the club was moved down to a lower league. Lee stepped down as chairman in 1998. He sold all his shares in the club in 2007.
Besides his paper business, Lee also trained racehorses. He trained horses like Sir Harry Hardman and Young Jason. He stopped training horses in 1996 to focus on his other businesses.
Personal Life
Before becoming a professional footballer, Francis Lee was also good at cricket. He played for his school's cricket team in 1958. After his football career ended, he played cricket again for a short time in 1977.
In 2016, Francis Lee was given a special award called the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). This was for his services to football and for his charity work.
Francis Lee passed away on October 2, 2023, at the age of 79, after a long illness.
Achievements
Manchester City
- Football League First Division: 1967–68
- FA Cup: 1968–69
- League Cup: 1969–70
- FA Charity Shield: 1968, 1972
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1969–70
Derby County
- Football League First Division: 1974–75
- FA Charity Shield: 1975
Individual Awards
- Football League First Division Golden Boot (top scorer): 1971–72
- Manchester City Player of the Year: 1970
- English Football Hall of Fame
- Most penalties scored in First Division: 1972
- Manchester City Top Goalscorer: 1969, 1970 (shared), 1971 (shared), 1972, 1974
- Commander of the Order of the British Empire
See also
In Spanish: Francis Lee para niños
